


Small Steps

by downworldkings (900yearsoftimeandspacce)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 20:04:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11767353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/900yearsoftimeandspacce/pseuds/downworldkings
Summary: Three moments that show the progression of Alec and Magnus' relationship.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For [@oreosmunroe](https://oreosmunroe.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

Alec is curled up in one corner of the couch when Magnus gets home. It’s late, the living room lit up only by a lamp on a side table, and he’s wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, his hair ruffled and caught by the lamp light, and he yawns and looks up as the door swings open. Magnus sees him on the couch and smiles, and he walks over, footsteps light and graceful, and he puts one hand on the couch by Alec’s head and leans down to kiss him hello.

The kiss is warm and soft and slow, and Magnus pulls back to rest their foreheads together, closing his eyes and breathing him in. He smells warm, somehow, comforting, like home, and Mangus leans in and kisses him again. This time, it’s Alec who pulls away, and he’s smiling an inch from Magnus’ lips as he says, “How was your meeting?”

Smiling, Magnus sighs and turns, sitting down next to Alec. Alec scoots over a little and moves his legs so Magnus is sitting right up against his side. At this, Magnus’ smile changes to the one he reserves just for Alec, full of fondness and adoration, his gaze soft and sweet. He shifts so his side is against Alec’s, and he rests his head on Alec’s shoulder. He feels Alec’s arm wrap around him, and his skin is warm, his breath even and slow.

“Nothing less than you can expect from a Downworld Meeting; some melodramatic complaining, some well-worded insults, some truly fantastic wine.”

Alec chuckles quietly and leans down to press his lips to the top of Magnus’ head, and then he just stays there, his head leaning on Magnus’, setting his book aside and laying his other arm across Magnus’ stomach and closing his eyes. Magnus closes his eyes, too, basking in the feeling of it, of Alec’s heartbeat and his warm breath against his face, the feeling of warm skin on skin.

For a moment, that’s all there is, the two of them sitting together on the couch, and then Magnus opens his eyes and pulls his head away just enough to be able to look at Alec’s face.

“As much as I love this, and you-” Alec grins- “I think it’s far time we went to bed.” His voice is soft and quiet, almost a whisper, and it’s rough, a little hoarse.

Alec smiles at him, and he looks terribly fond, eyes already half closed, but he looks so unbelievably happy- warm, and soft, and in love, and his voice is just as low when he responds.

“Yeah. I think it is.”

 

 

The bed dips as Magnus climbs on, and in the darkness, Alec reaches out for him. He catches Magnus’ shoulder, and although he can’t see it, Magnus smiles, and he moves Alec’s hand down to his own as he pulls up the comforter.

Alec’s palm is warm, and he tugs Magnus closer to him, rolling onto his other side, his back now to Magnus, holding Magnus’ hand with both of his own against his stomach. Magnus smiles Alec’s smile, and he presses himself against Alec’s back, feeling the warmth of his skin and the rise and fall of his chest with each breath, breathing in the scent of Alec’s- _his_ \- shampoo.


	2. Chapter 2

Alec slides his phone out of his pocket and opens the text from Izzy. It’s a picture of he and Magnus from a few days ago when Izzy dropped by to give Alec a few odds and ends he left behind when he moved in with Magnus. She took the picture just after she arrived, and in it, it almost looks like they hadn’t noticed she was there at all.

They were sitting facing each other on the couch, Alec in a T-shirt, his hair looking somewhat ruffled, and Magnus’ back was straight, his hair spiked, rings and necklaces catching the light from the chandelier. He was smiling at Alec, gaze soft and sweet, and he had one hand extended in front of him, his silver rings glittering. Alec’s eyebrows were drawn together, his mouth a tight line in concentration, and he was bent over Magnus’ hand, one hand holding it steady, the other hovering above it an inch away with a brush covered in a deep red nail polish.

“Alec?”

Alec looks up from his phone to see Jace standing in the doorway of his office, and at Jace’s stern look, Alec’s smile fades.

“What is it?”

“There was a demon attack in Lower Manhattan. Three mundanes were severely injured. They’re in the infirmary.”

Alec nods and says, “I’ll be right there,” and Jace ducks back into the hallway. Alec glances back down at his phone, at the picture of Magnus and him, and sends Izzy a quick  _ Thanks _ before pocketing it and standing, crossing his office and letting the door swing shut behind him.

 

 

Magnus stirs the potion idly, watching it bubble and boil, and he appears to be pulled out of some kind of reverie when his phone begins to ring from inside his pocket. He extracts it, still lazily stirring the potion, and glances at the caller ID before answering.

“Hello, Bathilde.”

He twirls the wooden spoon in lazy patterns as the woman on the other end of the line speaks, her voice clipped and somewhat anxious.

“I told you it’ll be ready tomorrow at ten. No earlier. This particular potion requires great-”

She cuts him off, and Magnus sighs, gazing across the room at the book Alec left on the table earlier that morning, and he smiles.

“Not to worry, Bathilde. I have no intention of breaking our agreement.”

Magnus ignores her response, opting instead to end the conversation with a curt “I’ll see you tomorrow, then” before hanging up. He sighs again, and he’s about to set his phone down when it dings, a tiny picture of Isabelle appearing on the screen. He opens her text and is somehow surprised by the picture she’s sent, and he finds himself smiling down at it.

It was such a lovely evening, and just thinking about it brings that feeling back to his chest, that fondness and adoration, and he glances at the chipped nail polish on his nails, at the tiny, almost invisible dots of deep red on his skin, and it feels like the beginning again, butterflies in his stomach and a dizzying kind of bright happiness making him forget about everything, all the work he has left to do, the meetings, and instead, he thinks again only of Alec and of the way his smile lights up his eyes.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Early morning light streams through the windows of the bedroom, and Alec rolls over, now facing Magnus, and he buries his head a little further into the pillow. His hair is sleep-ruffled, eyes closed, the comforter pulled up just to his stomach. 

A foot away, Magnus is lying on his side, watching Alec, a soft smile on his lips. He reaches out his hand to run his fingers lightly up Alec’s side, his arm, and without opening his eyes, Alec shuffles a little closer. Magnus runs his hand back down Alec’s arm, onto his torso, and he rubs little circles into Alec’s stomach with his thumb. Alec sighs, barely audibly, and extends the arm that isn’t trapped under his body and rests his hand on Magnus’ arm, and Magnus smiles at the gesture, at the feeling of his warm skin and the cool metal of his ring.

Magnus moves closer, putting his forehead right up against Alec’s, and he leans in and leaves a little kiss on Alec’s cheek, just beneath his eye, and only a few inches away, he whispers, “Good morning.”

Alec grunts in response, but there is the tiniest hint of a smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

Magnus leans in again, and this time, he kisses the bridge of Alec’s nose, and Alec’s smile widens, his eyes still closed. Magnus drags his fingers over Alec’s deflect rune and up to his chin. Alec gives another tiny sigh, and his eyes blink open, looking at Magnus.

“G’mornin’.” His voice is low and thick and gravely, his words run together and slightly slurred, and he smiles at Magnus with a kind of sleepy sweetness, eyes running over his face, his hand coming up to rest on Magnus’ shoulder.

Magnus smiles back at him, gaze soft and fond, and he combs his fingers through Alec’s hair and says, “G’mornin’” with an air of amusement in his voice.

Alec just smiles at him, shuffling closer and wrapping his arms around Magnus’ torso, pushing his bare chest up against Magnus’, his knee between Magnus’ thighs, and he puts his head on Magnus’ shoulder. Magnus rolls onto his back, and Alec is curled up against him, his breath warm on Magnus’ bare chest and neck. Magnus brings his hand around to Alec’s back, and he looks down at Alec’s face to see that his eyes are closed again, the corners of his mouth pulled up in a smile.

Magnus presses a kiss to his messy hair, and he feels Alec snuggle in a little closer to his chest. He smiles Alec’s smile, and he can feel Alec’s heartbeat against his own skin, his breath, the warmth radiating off of him, and he rubs his hand slowly up and down his husband’s back as the sun slowly rises, making the room glow in shades of gold.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr [here](https://ace-arrow-alec.tumblr.com/).


End file.
